3D-printed food has arrived faster than
we expected. Thanks to the efforts of an Italian bioengineer Giuseppe Scionti,
founder of a Spanish bioengineering startup Novameat, Vegetarian steaks and
chicken produced by a 3D printer could soon be on the menu in restaurants.

The Italian researcher developed the 3D
food printer at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona,
Spain.

This
unique invention can help in the effort to decrease the negative impact of
animal farming

Novameat developed the vegetarian steak
using rice, peas, and seaweed protein. It has a similar texture to genuine
steaks but more work is needed to make it taste like a steak. Vege-meat looks
like a steak but tastes like a mushroom

In
future, it can provide an alternative to other meat-free food products

According to Scionti, manufacturing 100
grams of vegetable meat costs just under $3 and takes approximately 30 minutes.
But the cost and time it currently takes to produce the steaks’ would decrease
upon commercialization due to production on a larger scale.

A cook at the university said: ‘Meat
substitute cooks ‘really well’. It doesn’t burn or stick to the pan.’

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. You can also find Nidhi on Google+.